Los Angeles Lakers: Don't Blame Mike Brown; Blame the Flawed Roster

The expectations in Laker Land befuddle me, but perhaps such delusional goals come with a history of success. Magic Johnson pronounced Mike Brown fired, and Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol traded, if Los Angeles failed to beat an evenly-matched first-round opponent. 

The Lakers cleared that hurdle, narrowly escaping the upstart Nuggets. But I wonder why such an opinion was popular. It's not 2010 anymore, and there's no healthy Lamar Odom to make sense out of a two-center rotation. Bynum and Gasol are both brilliant, but occupy the same floor space by nature. To have both is an asset because Pau can play a pasable power forward, but their lumbering gait is a defensive disadvantage in tandem. 

Against a transition squad like Denver or a savvy pick-and-roll team, the two-center combo can seal the Lakers' fate. It's a prosaic problem, one divorced from "heart" and "grit."

Another prosaic problem is Kobe's age (he's still good, but shooting like his younger self while not hitting like his younger self) and the overall weakness of the roster. When hope comes in the form of Ramon Sessions, it can be the reflection of a hopeless situation. 

When the Lakers inevitably do fall in the playoffs—probably to the Thunder—the response shouldn't be hand wringing or disappointment. This is totally predictable, as their team is worse than OKC's. Firing Mike Brown won't make this squad a contender. A bigger a move is in order, only one not so knee-jerk as trading Gasol and Bynum for the sake of doing so.